


In the Light of the Sun

by lordkrisdemort



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Inspired by Hadestown, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Past Character Death, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29429691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordkrisdemort/pseuds/lordkrisdemort
Summary: “But he fell in love with the beautiful deitywho walked up abovein his friend’s green field”
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	In the Light of the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> A Valentine's Day special from me :3
> 
> Heavily inspired by Hades x Persephone from the musical Hadestown (specifically the song number titled Epic III), with the story arc of Guizhong x Zhongli from Genshin Impact in mind AND EXO's superpowers. I know, it's... random. It's like, you know, that Indonesian dish called Gado-Gado. Or like that Bibimbap from South Korea. Wow. I apologize for this.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Chanyeol!”

He narrows his eyes at his obnoxious friend. Jongdae always,  _ always _ has too much fun annoying him.

“You know I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day.”

“Oh, but look, my fiery friend,” Jongdae stretches out a hand to gesture at their environment; the bar they’re currently visiting is decorated in pink and red on every nook and cranny, little hearts and glittery clothes hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. “Love is in the heart of the festive today!”

Chanyeol grumbles, downing his beer in one gulp. “You do share too many sentiments with the humans.”

“I do, I do, indeed. But aren’t you the one who shares the biggest sentiment of them all?”

“And it’s…?”

“Being a lover to someone.”

Perhaps Jongdae wants to be burned to ashes right on the stool he’s currently occupying.

“Speaking of that someone, where is he? Wasn’t he the one who asked you to meet here?”

“Baekhyun said he has sudden matters to attend to.” Chanyeol shrugs, already eyeing the next bottle of beer. Damned be his celestial metabolism; why can’t he get at least the slightest drunk? “He asked me to wait a little bit more.”

“Quite unlike him, I say.”

“What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Xiumin - I mean  _ Minseok _ . There are only a few weeks left before he has to sleep again.”

Jongdae’s previous mischievousness on his face is now replaced with a sombre smile. “As if I didn’t know already. Unfortunately, he also has some things to take care of, and he specifically asked me to wait here. I have no idea of - why, why, there he is!”

“Hello my fella.” Minseok arrives right between them, immediately patting his shoulder before turning to steal a light kiss on Jongdae’s lips. “My love.”

“Three Old Gods walk into a bar.” Jongdae grins. “Sounds fun, let me write a song about it quickly.”

“Oh, dear, how about you sing us that song you made? I see the occasion to be befitting.”

Chanyeol turns his attention to Minseok now. “What song?”

“My dear here wrote a song,” Minseok leans closer to whisper, “which I know you’d like!”

“Here? My, I am honored to.” He watches Jongdae summon the bartender. “Lend me a guitar, would you, handsome?”

He keeps himself busy with the new bottle of beer while Minseok goes on with his monologue about just how good Jongdae is in writing songs. Sometimes he can’t believe he had spent roughly six thousand years with these two, but in times like this he’s also reminded of how lucky he is to still have some of his friends with him. There used to be twelve of them, Gods with a specific elemental power in the possession of each of them. Six of them had ceased to exist, and three of the fallen Gods have reincarnated for multiple times throughout the years - he only got to meet the reincarnations a few times.

Although, even with the presence of his long time friends, the loneliness that swirled in the middle of the void inside him stayed unbothered.

Because there was one God that took half of him away to the skies many millennia ago, and it has only been brought back to him recently.

Now he’s on his way to readjust to a not so lonely life.

“Here I go!” He’s stunned back to the present by Jongdae’s crystal clear voice. “Like it, or I will zap you. It’s been a while since the last time I casted lightning on someone.”

He adores Jongdae’s constant liveliness and the way Minseok seems to always find the ways to blend in the crowd. He, too, always wanted to be able to exist properly according to the era they were in. He wanted to actually live. But the grief was always too huge for him to ignore even just for a moment.

“Chanyeol, are you listening?”

He forces himself out of his daydream. “I am, I am.”

“Okay, here I go.” With that, Jongdae strikes the first strum on the borrowed guitar.

“King of fire,

King of flames,

Phoenix was God of all things that burn”

“... oh, it’s about me?” How tacky, but the melody sounds too nice and warm for him to tell the God of Thunder to stop.

On his side, Minseok chuckles in adoration. “Go on.”

“But he fell in love with the beautiful deity

who walked up above

in his friend’s green field”

===

_ He fell in love with the God of Light _

_ who was singing to the flowers _

_ in the light of the sun _

“ _ Mind the flames from your tail, would you? My dear friend Earth and Life would be upset if the flowers die in vain.” _

That day was the first time he ever met Light.

He had caught the words about the newcomers in the nation he was residing at, and he had met the other two mentioned from the pair of sweet looking lips. That morning, as the sun shone down onto the days-old field of the lushest green grass and the most vibrantly colorful flowers, he finally met the last of the three.

They said the God of Light was the most beautiful being to ever walked on the grounds of every realm, and that was the first time others’ words spoke of the literal truth.

And there was a feeling, so strong and captivating, that bursted in his chest.

_ And he knew not, what it was _

_ Not yet, but he was sure _

_ He was changed by the prettiest voice _

He didn’t know yet what that feeling was, but he liked it, he liked how it challenged his adrenaline and breathed peace into him at the same time.

“ _ You must be Fire! _ ”

“ _ Phoenix. Phoenix is fine. _ ”

He wasn’t prepared for the warmth that had emanated from Light’s eyes. It was not the kind of warmth that resulted from his destructive flames. It was the kind of warmth that he couldn’t see, yet it touched him right in the heart and soul. And the smile that was offered to him was blinding, one that he should’ve expected from the God of Light himself.

“ _ Alright, Phoenix. Sing to the flowers with me? _ ”

_ Singing la, la la la, la la la _

_ La la la la la la la _

===

It sounds so loud in his head, the voice he had heard for the very first time that day. Without him realizing, he’s already asking; “Where’d you get that melody?”

“La la la la la la la,”

And as if the voice in his memories knows about the turmoil in his heart, it speaks to him in a fleeting whisper.

‘ _ Let him finish, Phoenix. _ ’

===

_ And you didn’t know how, _

_ and you didn’t know why, _

_ but you knew that you wanted to be with him _

He knew nothing about emotions.

He was born from elements instead of conceivement, lived in a vessel instead of a body that grew over time, brought to existence for a purpose instead of being raised with beliefs and feelings. And he never envied the mortals for having so many emotions in their little heads, for holding each other of certain values, for doing things out of the most intangible reasons.

He never did, until he grew so fond of Light and ended up not knowing what to do about it.

“ _ You see, Phoenix, I adore them very much. The mortals. _ ”

Meanwhile Light, despite having the exact same kind of origin as his, knew so much about how and what to feel, how and what to do with the things out of those feelings. Light would laugh over the most ridiculous things mortals told him. Light would get upset if someone, be it the humans or his fellow Gods, crooked even just one stem of flower in the field. Light once cried upon learning that Thunder and Ice had to be separated from each other for half of every year because Ice couldn’t exist in the months where the breeze was hot. Light often gushed about how Wind and Mind had been betrothed to each other for hundreds of years.

“ _ How come? _ ” he had asked, like a curious human child.

“ _ There is one thing they possess freely yet a luxury to us. _ ”

Even then, he didn’t need to ask.

“ _ They love. Each other, things, ideas. They love anything possible. Isn’t that amazing? _ ”

When he didn’t answer, not knowing what and how to, Light only chuckled with an amused smile on his face and pulled him into an embrace.

_ You saw him dancing there, under the sky _

_ It was like he was someone you'd been waiting for _

_ It was like you were holding the world when you held him _

_ Like yours were the arms meant to keep such blessing _

It was beyond his comprehension, how the feeling of having Light in the cage of his arms was so pleasant, as if he had known it for so many eons. The way Light welcomed him with the brightest grin was so beautiful, so relieving, as if it was his way of coming home. For a being who never held the word ‘home’ in its literal meaning, he had made Light his own.

“ _ What do you feel, then? About me. _ ”

The way Light stared up at him was carved in his head right away.

“ _ Delight. Immense delight. _ ”

_ And there were no words for the way that you felt _

_ So you opened your mouth and you started to sing _

_ La la la la la la la _

_ La la la la la la la _

_ La la la la la la la _

_ La la la la la la la _

===

He feels a nudge of an elbow on his arm. He glances at Minseok, who is now looking at him with worried eyes.

_ Maybe _ what he sees is worry. He can’t really tell. His eyes are a little bit blurry at the moment.

===

_ And what has become of the heart of that God _

_ Now that the God was someone’s? _

_ What has become of the heart of that God _

_ Now that he had someone to lose? _

Gods once resided among mortals in their full glory to keep hold of order.

To be the wisdom mortals would seek for in times of needs. To be the first in line when evil would threaten to barge in. To remind them that there were higher beings, that the things they had were not to be taken for granted, because it was provided to them in mercy.

But when they finally realized that some of the Gods were gradually absorbing the ideals of mortals who were deluded by the manifestation of evil, they figured out too late that Gods were never really meant to make a living in the middle of humans, where evil could touch so easily.

Thus, when the war was waged against humans, against evil, and against each other, he wasn’t much surprised about it.

What had caught him off guard was the fact that he was afraid.

And to add to the oddness, he wasn’t afraid for his own well being.

He was afraid of the one who seemed to be stuck in between his celestial element and his love for the mortals.

His betrothed, Light, was in danger. And he was afraid that something would happen to him.

_ The more he denied, the more he suffered _

_ The greater the weight of the fear on his shoulders _

_ Saw how he raged into the battle _

_ Afraid to lose the only love he swore to hold _

And when his fear turned into reality, he blamed himself.

As he held Light’s body in the middle of the ashened field, he blamed himself.

As a pair of dim eyes struggled to give him one last gaze, so nervous yet so tender, he blamed himself.

“ _ Don’t...  _ “

When he ended up not being able to hear the rest of the deity’s last words, he blamed himself.

To compensate for the guilt consuming him from the inside, he stood up and burned all of the foes he could recognize.

_ So he spread his wings out, he kept his fire raging _

_ He'd grown so afraid that he'd never get forgiveness _

_ Although he knew that the one he wanted to beg to _

_ Was already gone _

===

He wonders again, if really was his fault for failing the only promise he had made to himself.

“Where does the weight of regrets rests in you?”

He wonders what could’ve been if only he had arrived at the field a little bit earlier. If only he had convinced his beloved to go with him instead of staying for the people around there. If only he had actually done something to prevent the war from happening in the first place.

He wonders if he would always live with this question until no one knows when.

“Where is your wisdom? Where is your muse?”

He then feels a hand patting his back gently. Minseok is hanging his head low, looking over his lap, while Jongdae’s eyes are focused on his guitar. His friends were there to witness the tragedy - at least the burden of the guilt wasn’t just his to bear, although he still has the majority of the amount.

“Where is the God, in his journey to peace?”

===

“ _ If he reincarnates, if you meet him again, what would you do? _ ”

His beloved would reincarnate again. That was supposed to be a blessing for him. The God of Wind met his demise when he chose to attempt in fixing the corrupted God of Mind. God of Time chose to bring the corrupted Gods out of the universe, which meant he had to murder his own pair God of Flight before ceasing to exist himself. God of Space was the last to fall. There was still a chance for the fallen ones to reincarnate and live again, although as a mortal.

And he didn’t know what he would do if he ever met his beloved again. Because by then, it wouldn’t be the one he used to know, the one he fell in love with, but it didn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t be chasing after him.

By then, who would he love? The one he lost, or the one he found again?

Thus, he answered, “ _ I don’t know. _ ”

There was the God of Water, standing as his company, right before the tomb where his beloved was resting. “ _ Fair enough. _ ” His friend reached out a hand to conjure a small amount of water inside the tiny vase that held a stem of the flower his beloved used to adore so much. “ _ Then for now, you settle with a farewell. _ ”

A farewell. One between Gods. He never really imagined it would happen this soon. At least not in another millennia or two. At least not with the one who was like the whole universe to him.

He couldn’t say goodbye. He couldn’t let go.

He chose to do the only thing he could think of, the thing that reminded him of the first time he saw his beloved.

_ To the one he’d always love _

_ He sent his heart out _

_ Singing la la la la la la la _

===

“La la la la la la la…”

Jongdae smiles in gratitude upon him joining the outro.

“La la la la la la la

_ La la la la la la la. _ ”

He then turns to his side when he notices another voice joining. His eyes widen when he realizes who it is.

“Were you crying?” There’s heavy worry in Baekhyun’s voice.

“Jongdae sang something very beautiful, indeed.” Minseok takes the liberty to answer for him. “You know Chanyeol has a soft heart.”

He almost bursts out laughing when Baekhyun turns to look at Minseok with awkwardness in his face. “I… didn’t, until now.” They then lock gazes again. “I’m so sorry it took me so long. A kid got lost at the mall and I brought her to the receptionist. And… yeah, I stayed until the parents came.”

“Hey, handsome,” Jongdae’s calls make Baekhyun shift his head at him, “what were you doing at the mall anyway?”

“... oh,” looking flustered, Baekhyun pulls out something from behind him. It’s a bouquet of flowers. Ones that he ironically recognizes. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Chanyeol!”

‘ _ You have a lovely voice, Phoenix! _ ’

Months after meeting Baekhyun, the reincarnation of the God of Light, he figures out that he shouldn’t have been worried about who he has to love.

He can always love Light in his memories, and love Baekhyun in his arms.

He can love his past and present, so he won’t dread the future so much.

And it’s a blessing, a huge blessing, to be able to love and be loved everyday.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Baekhyun.”

* * *

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!! Let's cherish the chance to love and be loved <3


End file.
